To the editor:
The irreplaceable center of Monroe Township is Thompson Park. It is a marvel of serenity Monroe’s "Central Park."
To campaign for its invasion by a multi-storied senior high school, as town officials have been lead to do, is blind to the future of the community.
As Planning Board member Joe Montanti has said according to the Cranbury Press, and as we all know, there are very few large tracts of land left in the township that haven’t already been approved for development or set aside. With the referendum for open space voted on months ago, and the $7 to $8 million Township Engineer Ernie Feist notes might be bonded, the scattered, hidden parcels of open space being considered today for purchase can never make up for our beautiful, central open space.
If Princeton High School can accommodate expansion while classes are in session, why the lack of such planning for Monroe? Then, there is the unused space between the existing high school and the "new" post office and its parking lot. There is extensive, unenjoyed "open space" of the Bank of China acreage for building.
Diverse foot trails, isolated spots like the Memorial Park on Plainsboro Road, the corner across from Concordia Shopping Center, and proposed spots across the road from Thompson Park, cannot replace the integrity of the parkland. Thanks to the citizens of New York City, Central Park has been preserved. May Mayor Pucci, the Council and the Middlesex County Open Space and Freeholders come to a fundamental of our existence, that a perfectly planned parkland is not fungible as money is.
Alice C. Hardie
Monroe

